Kelly is a psychologist at OpenUp. She is currently living in the United Arab Emirates and loves exploring new cultures and travelling. It helps her to understand humanity in various different contexts. At the same time it illuminates how societies can influence the personality of individuals. Motivated to understand the uniqueness and complexity of her clients, she works with person-centred and humanistic therapeutic approaches.
She believes that each person has the ability to turn around from any situation they are faced with, when given the right guidance and mindset. Therefore, Kelly thinks it is important to establish meaningful therapeutic relationships by having a warm, confidential and solution-oriented approach. She offers support to deal with problems on a day-to-day basis but also looks into how to make space for the life you want, things that matter, joy and new beginnings. Together we can focus on empowering your personal development by setting goals and determining priorities in developing healthy self-concepts, emotion regulation, increasing emotional resilience, improving the efficiency and productivity at work and improving relationships, all to make important positive changes in your life.
To build on her own healthy work-life balance, Kelly prioritises self-care and relaxation. She loves to express her creativity in artistic ways such as ceramics, painting and interior design. Other activities she is passionate about are pilates, hiking and cooking. She is learning the Spanish language and loves spending time in nature.
Kelly obtained her Master’s degree in Healthcare Psychology in 2018 at the University of Amsterdam. She gained experience working in a range of psychological interventions and therapeutic environments with diverse communities providing group- and individual therapy. She provided therapy for people with addiction problems, personality disorders, eating disorders, mood disorders and multiple lifestage problems. She is trained in CBT, ACT and mentalized based therapy (MBT).
Kelly speaks Dutch and English.
